A Holiday Tour de Force: Uncovering Overlooked Yuletide Movies

Something that annoys concerning a lot of modern seasonal films is their overly meta-commentary – the ostentatious ornaments, the formulaic soundtrack selections, and the canned conversations about the real spirit of the season. It could be because the style was not yet ossified into tradition, pictures from the 1940s often approach Christmas from increasingly creative and less neurotic angles.

The Affair on Fifth Avenue

A delightful gem from delving into 1940s seasonal fare is It Happened on Fifth Avenue, a 1947 semi-romantic farce with a brilliant premise: a jovial vagrant spends the winter in a unoccupied Fifth Avenue townhouse each year. That season, he welcomes fellow down-on-their-luck individuals to live with him, including a ex-soldier and a young woman who is secretly the offspring of the property's wealthy proprietor. Filmmaker Roy Del Ruth imbues the film with a found-family coziness that many newer seasonal stories struggle to achieve. The film beautifully occupies the space between a socially aware story on housing and a charming metropolitan fantasy.

The Tokyo Godfathers

The late filmmaker's 2003 animated film Tokyo Godfathers is a entertaining, heartbreaking, and profound version on the holiday story. Inspired by a classic Hollywood film, it tells the story of a trio of down-and-out people – an alcoholic, a transgender woman, and a teenage throwaway – who find an discarded infant on the night before Christmas. Their quest to reunite the child's parents unleashes a series of misadventures involving yakuza, foreigners, and apparently serendipitous connections. The animation embraces the magic of chance frequently found in Christmas flicks, offering it with a cinematic visual style that avoids saccharine emotion.

Introducing John Doe

While Frank Capra's It's a Wonderful Life rightly receives plenty of acclaim, his lesser-known work Meet John Doe is a compelling seasonal story in its own right. Starring Gary Cooper as a charismatic everyman and Barbara Stanwyck as a plucky writer, the story kicks off with a fictional letter from a man vowing to leap from a ledge on the holiday in protest. The public's embrace compels the journalist to hire a man to play the mythical "John Doe," who subsequently becomes a popular figure for kindness. The movie acts as both an heartwarming story and a sharp skewering of ultra-rich publishers seeking to use public sentiment for personal ambitions.

The Silent Partner

Whereas holiday horror films are now a dime a dozen, the holiday crime caper remains a strangely underpopulated style. This makes the 1978 gem The Silent Partner a fresh discovery. Featuring a superbly menacing Christopher Plummer as a bank-robbing Santa Claus and Elliott Gould as a clever bank clerk, the story sets two types of amoral individuals against each other in a well-crafted and twisty yarn. Mainly unseen upon its initial debut, it merits new attention for those who like their festive films with a dark tone.

Almost Christmas

For those who enjoy their Christmas reunions chaotic, Almost Christmas is a hoot. Boasting a stellar group that features Danny Glover, Mo'Nique, and JB Smoove, the film delves into the dynamics of a clan compelled to spend five days under one roof during the festive period. Secret dramas bubble to the surface, resulting in scenes of high comedy, including a dinner where a shotgun is brandished. Naturally, the narrative reaches a heartwarming conclusion, providing all the fun of a family disaster without any of the actual aftermath.

Go Movie

Doug Liman's 1999 movie Go is a Yuletide-adjacent tale that serves as a young-adult take on woven stories. Although some of its edginess may feel of its time upon rewatch, the movie still offers several elements to savor. These include a engaging turn from Sarah Polley to a standout scene by Timothy Olyphant as a laid-back pusher who fittingly dons a Santa hat. It represents a very brand of late-90s cinematic energy set against a festive scene.

Miracle at Morgan's Creek

The famed director's 1940s farce The Miracle of Morgan's Creek skips conventional seasonal sentimentality in return for cheeky fun. The film centers on Betty Hutton's character, who discovers she is pregnant after a drunken night but cannot recall the soldier responsible. The bulk of the fun arises from her situation and the efforts of Eddie Bracken's hapless Norval Jones to marry her. While not immediately a Christmas film at the start, the plot culminates on the festive day, revealing that Sturges has created a clever take of the birth narrative, packed with his characteristic sharp edge.